Porsche Chief Executive Wants A Ferrari Beater

[William Maley]

Porsche Chief Executive Wants A Ferrari Beater

William Maley - Editor/Reporter - August 30, 2011

August 30, 2011

Porsche's chief executive is irritated because the company doesn't offer something to compete directly with Ferrari.

"It always irritated me that the (most expensive) 911 tops out at 250,000 euros (about $360,000) and then the 918 continues starting at 750,000 euros (about $1,082,550). In between, Ferrari moseys around relatively comfortably and without any competition. That is where we need to be. There is still space for a larger sports car, one like the 959 that we built in the 1980s," said Matthias Mueller, Porsche's chief executive to German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Mueller also said in his interview the car could cost between 250,000-400,000 euros (about $363,000 to $580,000).

So, what could possibly power this larger Porsche model? Autocar reports that Porsche is looking at using a flat-eight boxster engine. Enginners at Porsche are getting frustrated with the with the 4.0L limit on the iconic flat-six engine. Also, Porsche believes to beat Ferrari, they need to go with more cylinders.

Source: Reuters, Autocar

[Robert Hall]

Odd...Lamborghini is the Ferrari competitor within the VW group...Porsche should focus on what they do best and leave the supercars to Lamborghini.

[Drew Dowdell]

Meet VW, the new GM.